About Potala Karma

Five makers. Five disciplines. One collective shaped by handwork, patience, and respect for the traditions carried through each material.

Our Story

Potala Karma brings together makers whose work spans thangka painting, amulet making, woodcarving, Dzi knowledge, and hand weaving. The collective was formed by Gesang, who grew up around the murals, fibers, beads, and metalwork of the Tibetan plateau and wanted to create a lasting home for skills that were too often practiced in isolation.

Our work is guided by a simple belief: objects made by hand carry the trace of time, material, and the person who shaped them. We do not ask the work to become faster. We help it find the people willing to understand it.

Meet the collective and read their stories →

One Name, Many Forms

Potala Karma is the single public-facing name of the store. Within the collection you will find contemporary wearable pieces, older and one-of-a-kind objects, Dzi, thangka pendants, amulets, carved forms, natural materials, and handwoven cords. We organize these works by form, intention, material, and symbol rather than presenting separate brands.

Materials, Age & Variation

Materials and age differ from piece to piece. Product pages identify the information relevant to each object, including stated materials, handwork, age or period where applicable, and natural variation. Older and one-of-a-kind pieces may show wear, patina, irregularity, or traces of previous handling; these are part of the individual object rather than defects in uniform manufacture.

Symbols & Stories

Many pieces are associated with traditional stories, legends, spiritual symbolism, or customary beliefs. We preserve that cultural context and present it as tradition—not as a guaranteed medical, financial, protective, or spiritual outcome.

Our Approach

  • Handwork: We value the visible evidence of human making, from brushwork and carving marks to woven tension and metal finishing.
  • Specificity: Materials, age, condition, and technique are described at product level because no two objects carry exactly the same history.
  • Cultural respect: Symbols are presented with context and without turning belief into a promised result.
  • Natural variation: Differences in color, surface, grain, pattern, and finish are expected in handmade and natural-material pieces.

Made slowly. Carried forward with care.